5/11/2013

Throughout the course of his career, Paul Giamatti has undergone a number of memorable transformations. Melting into the roles of Harvey Pekar in American Splendor, Joe Gould in Cinderella Man, and even "Founding Father" John Adams, Giamatti gave incredible, wildly different performances in all three. He's one of the finest actors working today, but one transformation he's never had to make was into one of Spider-Man's toughest villains.
After set photos of his stunt double emerged last week, Marc Webb has now tweeted the first official still of Giamatti as Rhino in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Captioned "Say hello to Aleksei Sytsevich", the shot reveals a heavily tattooed Giamatti, in keeping with the character's background as an ex-Russian thug who becomes part of an experiment that gives him super-strength, speed, and nearly impervious skin.

With Giamatti's Rhino, Jamie Foxx's Electro, and a pair of crazy Osborns played by Dane DeHaan and Chris Cooper, how is Peter Parker expected to keep Gwen Stacy safe? Maybe he won't? Starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and Shailene Woodley, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opens on May 2nd 2014.